MPs reject bid to exempt pubs from smoking ban

On 13 October 2010, MPs voted to reject a bid by Tory MP David Nuttall to exempt pubs and private members' clubs from the smoking ban.

Mr Nuttall believes that the ban has contributed to the closure of many pubs in his Bury North constituency.

Under his ten minute rule bill, landlords and licensees would have been allowed to have dedicated smoking lounges for drinkers on their premises, complete with smoke filters.

Mr Nuttall, a non-smoker, argued that pubs and clubs should have the freedom to choose whether to allow smoking.

But Labour MP and former chairman of the Commons health select committee spoke against Mr Nuttall's bill, and took the unusual step of pushing parliamentary opposition to a ten minute rule bill to a vote.

The bill fell at its first hurdle as MPs rejected it by 141 votes to 86.

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